4 October 2009

I've been daydreaming about autumn again today, particularly about our local orchards and their fresh apple cider and delicious potato doughnuts sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon! With the magical smell of autumn in the air come other heavenly aromas of the season. Autumn trips to the apple orchard or cider mill are the type of thing that beautiful childhood memories are made of. I have been more than happy to pass these traditions down to my own daughter and someday my grandkids...hint...hint. My daughter follows my blog so that is for you kidlet! Some of these wonderful places have been around as long as the 1800s.As a child a trip to the apple orchard was a yearly journey. Mom and dad would dress us up in warm mittens and scarves which we would be peeling off in no time after exploring everything the orchard had to offer. The lazy autumn sun would beat down on our faces and we'd be oblivious of anything else other than picking the best of the best and to see who could get the most apples into their basket. The cool nights in Ontario were perfect for keeping the apples crisp and fresh with a slightly sour tang that is just not duplicated any other time of the year.

Now here in British Columbia I passed this tradition down to my own daughter who loved to hop aboard the hay wagon, head for the petting zoo to see how the animals had grown over the summer months; all the while with a huge smile and a moustache of cinnamon and sugar. We would spend countless hours roaming the corn maze and filling our faces with luscious butter tarts and warming ourselves with mulled apple cider pressed from the apples that morning.

The first apple trees were planted in the Okanagan Valley well over a 100 years ago. Father Pandosy, a priest, had arrived in Kelowna in 1859 to set up a Catholic mission here. He was one of the first white settlers in the Okanagan Valley. On the mission property, he planted a few apple trees for the other residents of the mission.The Okanagan’s first commercial orchard did not appear until over 30 years after Father Pandosy planted his first few trees.

What better way to explore these autumnal flavours with a fresh harvest salad made with apples gleaned from your own local orchards. Start your own traditions or pass them down to the next generation. This salad is a recipe from Travis Hackle a local chef that has been altered slightly to make use of what I had available. I am submitting this recipe to the No Croutons Required event this month with the theme - The Storecupboard Round. The challenge this month is to create a vegetarian soup or salad using ingredients already in your cupboard and not heading to the local shops. In my cupboard I had walnuts, apple cider vinegar, olive and grapeseed oils, Dijon mustard, dried rosemary and parsley, dried cranberries and blueberries. To use my friend Giz's words, "The results were nothing short of magical".

The founders of this event are the talented duo Holler of Tinned Tomatoes and fellow Canadian Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Both of these ladies follow a vegetarian and healthy lifestyle which is evident in each of their feature stories. They have heard me say this before but they are both such sweeties that I have to participate in their event as often as I can...and I will say it again!!Print this recipe

I love this! Love, love, LOVE it! Fall salads are ideal when the days are still warm, but nights are cool. Perfectly refreshing and ideal for bringing ataste of autumn straight to your table (the fact that it's easy to prepare doesn't hurt either)!

The first time I picked apples was last year. They are not a common fruit to the south of Greece, as they need the cold and the rain, but my friend's summer house is up in the mountain and her mother had planted some trees, which were heavy with fruit at the beginning of September. I will never forget their taste: crisp, fresh and sweet at the same time. Nothing like the apples I get from the market. I will try and get hold of some and make you salad.

I can afford accepting autumn is here and buying and eating apples, "william" pears, grapes and the rest, because it is so warm in Paris that we all feel we're still in summer. This salad looks delicious and ... summerly

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My blog More Than Burnt Toast has been my passion for almost 9 years and has evolved with me over time as I have gained confidence in the kitchen. Follow my travels through Italy and Greece one recipe at a time, upcoming cooking classes at local Okanagan wineries and restaurants, as well as daily experimentation in my own kitchen. Every day we should be excited about what we are eating even if it just means making use of a wonderful find at our local farmers market. I look forward to getting to know you.